Business Times - 08 Nov 2006
Value of top 15 S'pore brands hits record $12b
SingTel tops for fifth year running, at $2.67b
By JEAN CHUA
(SINGAPORE) Singapore's top names are now worth more than ever - a total of $12 billion, says brand consultant Interbrand. The figure is 26 per cent higher than last year, when the top 15 local brands were valued at $9.5 billion.
At the Singapore Brand Award presentation ceremony yesterday, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore deputy CEO Ted Tan said: 'We are glad to see Singapore companies paying close attention to their brands. By doing so, they can achieve more extensive market penetration and maximise their brand visibility both in local and international markets.'
The Singapore Brand Award, now in its fifth year, is IE Singapore's initiative to help Singapore companies develop their brands. Interbrand is its partner.
Rankings are based on the value of a company's brands as assessed by Interbrand, which performs similar valuations for about 3,500 brands worldwide.
Only profitable, public-listed companies are short-listed for the awards, and they must be home-grown or headquartered in Singapore for at least 10 years.
This year, Singapore Telecom topped the list for the fifth year running. Its brand value rose 8 per cent to $2.67 billion, which includes the value of its Australian unit Optus in Interbrand's calculations.
Financial institutions did well, with UOB, DBS and OCBC taking second, third and six spots. Their total brand value rose 19.1 per cent to $4.76 billion.
Coming in fourth was Asia Pacific Breweries, whose brand value went up 11 per cent to $1.36 billion.
No 5 was new entrant Shangri-La, whose brand is worth $1.22 billion.
When a company owns more than one brand name, a portfolio of its flagship brands is considered instead. This is typically the case for F&B manufacturers such as F&N, Petra Foods and Food Empire.
The other top brands this year are Tiger Balm, Creative Technology, OSIM, Brands, Singapore Airlines and Great Eastern Life.
In particular, Interbrand said wellness products such as Brands, OSIM and Eu Yan Sang are making serious headway establishing themselves in the region.
Interbrand's managing director and director of Asia-Pacific, Stuart Green, said: 'Leading Singapore companies continue to realise the rewards of moving up the value chain; the need to own the consumer relationship and benefit from the premium and loyalty this confers.'
New this year was a 'Top Five Fastest Growing Brands' category, which named Eu Yan Sang, OSIM, UOB, Super Coffeemix and Popular.
Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Friday, October 20, 2006
BT: 19 S'pore firms on Forbes Asia SME list (20 Oct 2006)
19 S'pore firms on Forbes Asia SME list
List ranks Asia Pacific's top 200 listed companies with sales of less than US$1b
By LAUREL TEO
SINGAPORE is punching above its weight when it comes to churning out the region's top small and medium enterprises, according to the latest Forbes Asia listing.
Nineteen names from Singapore have made the list of Asia-Pacific's top 200 listed companies with sales below US$1 billion. In comparison, Malaysia contributed eight, Hong Kong 12, and South Korea 11.
Japan, with a population of more than 125 million, equalled Singapore's record in this year's rankings. But the runaway champion is Taiwan, which produced 31 winners, mostly from the electronics and technology sector.
Forbes Asia editor Tim Ferguson said: 'Taiwan's impressive showing underscores both the entrepreneurial nature of the Taiwanese economy and its under-appreciated role as a hub for technology hardware.'
The secret of Taiwan's success is to pick battles well. According to Jack Huang, who runs a law practice in Taiwan and has worked with successful entrepreneurs there, this means targeting niche markets so small and insignificant that bigger companies would not bother with them.
In the latest Forbes list, Singapore improved on its 2005 score of 11 winners. But only two from last year's list - water specialist Hyflux and marine group Jaya Holdings - made this year's honour roll.
The other Singapore representatives this year include stock market darlings such as rig and ship-builder Labroy Marine, oil and gas equipment supplier KS Energy Services, and crane operator Tat Hong.
This year's overall list for the region saw a high turnover rate, with eight in 10 companies new entrants. Forbes Asia's Mr Ferguson said: 'The Asian Pacific economy is fluid and this is best seen at the small and medium-sized enterprise level.'
Other countries on the list include China with 29 entrants, Australia (27), India (23), Thailand (11), and Indonesia (5). New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka each had fewer than five entrants.
According to Forbes Asia, most of the mainland Chinese companies, as well as many Japanese and Indian firms, focus largely on their domestic markets.
Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
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